The best extreme-sports game gets even better in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. The elements that made the last two games a success are back: tight controls, a deep trick system, a wide selection of skaters (including Tony Hawk, Bucky Lasek, Rodney Mullen, Chad Muska and Elissa Steamer) and a slick soundtrack (featuring the Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Motorhead, KRS-One, Redman, and more). Adding to the already brilliant formula is a new trick, updated graphics and Internet/LAN play. In Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, players were introduced to the manual--a move that greatly revolutionisd the series' gameplay. This instalment introduces the revert, and while it isn't as significant an addition as the manual, it does add another layer to the already deep trick system. The game features solid graphics but a level of detail was sacrificed in order to make the game's levels so large. There are a few moments of frame skipping and polygon clipping, but these instances are rare and don't overshadow the stellar gameplay.
Career mode is as deep as ever, with eight objective-filled levels. In this single-player mode players traverse their way through some" find hidden videotapes and interact with level-specific objects. Two players can participate in the five multiplayer mini-games, which include "king of the hill", "horse" and "trick attack". In a PS2 first, up to four players can join Internet or LAN games through the use of the PS2 Network Adapter (to be released in the UK after the game) or a USB Ethernet adapter or USB modem; the connection is made through your own Internet service provider ("a wide range" of ISPs are supported, though at time of writing AOL isn't one of them) so calls are charged at your usual rate.
On its own, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is a top-shelf title, but with its Internet capabilities there's no reason for fans of sports, action and platform games not to have this title. This game will satisfy them all. --Raymond M Padilla
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Review
The trick sets were plentiful but simple to perform and allowed for slick runs and high scores that you could be proud of. Throw in a bunch of great secret scaters and levels and you've got replayability. I might even dig this out and give it a run through in the near future.
Rating : 8/10